BUSINESS LEADERS IN OUR FUTURE? – AT 10:29 A.M. ET:  One result of the 2016 election, and Donald Trump's victory, is a new interest on the part of business leaders in running for office.  Is this good?  Bad?  No difference.  I think we may find out.  From Reuters:   

(Reuters) - With a businessman turned politician now in the Oval Office, a small but growing number of bankers and Wall Street financiers across the United States have set their sights on politics.

In New Jersey, Connecticut and California, former bankers, hedge fund managers and private equity executives have either announced bids for legislative and gubernatorial seats, or associates have told Reuters they are considering running.

Meanwhile, industry trade groups including the American Bankers Association are launching formal programs to teach members in various states how to campaign successfully.

It is not the first time well-heeled candidates have entered American politics, and there are not a great number of them. But historians, political scientists and bankers say the atmosphere has changed abruptly under President Donald Trump.

“It’s certainly raised the visibility of folks who in the past may have said ‘I‘m not a politician,” said Richard Baier, president of the Nebraska Bankers Association, which is launching a training school for potential legislative candidates. “We’ve shown that you don’t really need that background.”

The Oklahoma Bankers Association is also planning to launch its own candidate school, a spokesman said.

Foreclosures, job losses and growing income inequality after the 2007-2009 financial crisis made anyone with Wall Street ties into a political pariah. But Trump, a self-described billionaire who made a fortune in New York real estate and entertainment, has stocked his cabinet with Wall Street bankers and industry tycoons.

His presidency has inspired others in the financial community to pursue civic duty, according to people who have studied campaigns or are involved with current election efforts.

COMMENT:  Hard to know whether this is a long-term trend or a tentative boomlet.  We also don't know whether this new class of potential candidates will be conservative or stylishly liberal.

The Dems will frown at the business types, but they depend on those big checks, as do the Republicans.  And many of their leading candidates, like Hillary Clinton or Elizabeth Warren, are far from poor.

October 9, 2017